"Captain America: Civil War" Is The Best Marvel Movie Ever

There have been live-action movies made based on Marvel comics characters for 30 years. In that time, there have been some pretty terrible movies - like “Howard The Duck” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” - and some pretty awesome ones, like “The Avengers” and “Spider-Man 2”. But there has come a movie that makes even the best of Marvel’s offerings look like generic action movies with no appeal whatsoever.

That movie is “Captain America: Civil War”.

From start to finish, this movie is a masterpiece. It blows the comic book it’s based on out of the water. It’ll destroy your house and you will like it. The characters, the action, the quiet scenes, everything - it’s perfect. It truly is the best Marvel movie, and maybe even the best superhero movie, of all time.

“Civil War” has a lot of elements that could’ve been terrible, but instead were amazing. It’s long - really long, clocking in at two hours and 27 minutes - but there’s no filler; every scene advances the plot in some way. And there are 17 characters - which is a lot of characters - but nobody feels over or underused. And despite the fact that there are all these characters, it still feels like a Captain America movie. He’s the centerpiece.

The action is fantastic, and most of it isn’t revealed in the trailers, so there are tons of awesome things that you haven’t even seen yet. Despite the fact that the subject matter is definitely pretty serious, there are still laughs, but it doesn’t go overboard or feel like a comedy. You’re still very much watching a serious movie. And best of all, it has major repercussions to the MCU as a whole - this movie has changed things, and its effects will be felt.

From this point on, this review contains spoilers. Turn back now. I’m 800% serious. If you’ve seen the movie, or if you really like being spoiled, read on ahead, but here there be spoilers. Beware.

Now, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from that other recent big superhero v. superhero movie, it’s that both sides of the conflict need to be fleshed out; each side needs clear motivations, or it’s really hard to get invested in the conflict. “Civil War” does that, and more - not only are the good parts of each side displayed, but the bad ones are, too. Whether you stand with Team Iron Man and believe that superheroes should be working under control of the governments of the world, or whether you stand with Team Cap and believe that superheroes do their best when they aren’t regulated, you’ll come out of “Civil War” with your jimmies rustled.

And the villain. Helmut Zemo is nothing like his comic book counterpart, but he also happens to be the best post-Loki bad guy in the MCU, so that makes up for it and then some. The Avengers don’t all team up at the end to defeat him; instead, he manages to single-handedly unravel them from the inside, leaving them split in two. And he doesn’t do it through force, either - he does it with intelligence and cunning and skillful manipulation. The bad guy wins, and it’s awesome.

Also, there is no longer any need to choose between Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield anymore, because Tom Holland has emerged as the one Spider-Man to rule them all. He’s adorkable as Peter Parker - all he wants to do is impress Tony Stark and it’s the cutest thing - and perfectly snarktastic as Spider-Man. And he actually looks like a high schooler! He could wander into your LA class and sit down, and you’d be like, “Ah, yes, a student who doesn’t look like he’s 30.”

Black Panther is also introduced in this film, and he is easily the best character in the whole film. Though he’s initially way too consumed by a need for revenge to be much like his comic book counterpart, by the end, he’s the way cooler version of Batman that Marvel fans all know and love. Chadwick Boseman gets all of the props for being the first on-screen representation of the hero, and doing a really fantastic job with it, too.

So overall, “Civil War” is the best Marvel movie ever. There’s no dull moment, and despite all of its characters, it never feels overcrowded. Even if you’re not a Marvel fan, you should definitely check it out for a superhero v superhero movie done right.